<p>The thing is i received 19,425 in grants/loans. The grants come out to 11,725 which is the federal pell grant/seog grant/ nys tap/suny tuition credit.
The loans come out 6500 which is perkins loan/ federal sub/unsub loan and i also got a work/study program for the fall term which is 1200, not the spring term,</p>
<p>So if im correct about the COA, how am i able to pay off the rest 5k remaining, am i able to get more federal loan money? do i have to look for private loans, which are risky. do i have to get job? which might seem stressful</p>
<p>“do i have to get job? which might seem stressful”</p>
<p>lol…welcome to the real world…stress comes with it. Like most of America’s college students, yes, you’re expected to get a job and pay something towards your college and living expenses. Start looking NOW. Work as much as you can over the summer.</p>
<p>BTW…most students do NOT go away to college. that is often a LUXURY…so yes, youre expected to pay for some of that.</p>
<p>If your parents apply for and are rejected for a Plus Loan, you could take an additional $4000 in Direct Loans. I think that is the amount for freshmen.</p>
<p>What makes you think your parents won’t qualify for a Plus? </p>
<p>not a good credit history, also my second option would be to go to CUNY city college (grove school of engineering) and then transfer after 1 year or 2. but i don’t know if it’ll be harder to get in as a transfer</p>
Yes, Freshmen and sophomores are eligible for an increase of up to $4,000 Direct Unsubsidized Loans based on cost of education. Juniors and seniors can get up to an additional $5,000 Direct Unsubsidized Loans.</p>
<p>can somebody explain to me how crucial internships and doing research is (for engineering)? is it possible to get an internship during your freshmen year or is it later? </p>
<p>Internships and research are advantageous. But you don’t have to worry about that your first year. Just get any job this summer to contribute to that $5k. Maybe next summer you can find the same again or better. By Jr year you should have skills and be able to get an internship that pays something more. Maybe after sophomore year. </p>
<p>If you are careful you can spend a little less than the COA estimates, ask for the least expensive room, buy used books or rent, spend less on misc, spend less on transportation. So your actual COA will be less and you don’t have to come up with 5k. Lets look at it </p>
<p>Tuition and fees 8498
Room 7210
Board 4990</p>
<p>Books 1164
Personal 1431</p>
<h2>Transp 1050</h2>
<p>24,343</p>
<p>So right away you can look at the COA page and they have a link for Room. If you get the cheapest room it is 6,023 so now your COA estimate is 23,156.</p>
<p>Do you need 1050 to get home for Christmas and summer? Or can you do it for less? 600 per semester for books? Rent or buy used, Personal expenses of 700 per semester? Reduce. Now your COA estimate is 22,156 and you are only short 3,000. That’s 1,500 each semester. Can your parents help with that? If not have then apply for the parent plus loan and when denied you ask your financial aid office to increase your loan by 3k. </p>
<p>Next year, find a cheaper place off campus and you can reduce by a couple thousand more at least so you won’t have to take any extra loan.</p>
<p>So for the first semester, assuming you can get the least expensive dorm.</p>
<p>Tuition and fees 4249
Room 3011</p>
<h2>Board 2495</h2>
<p>9,755 ==>this is what you have to pay the school up front, covered by half your grant of 9,712</p>
<p>Here are your expenses during the semester which can be partly paid by your p/t work study job a few hours a week (doable)</p>
<p>Books 432 ==>you have to buy these right away, I knocked 150 off for used
Personal 565 (I knocked 150 off)</p>
<h2>Transp 425 (I knocked 100 off)</h2>
<p>1,422 less work study of 1,200 toward that leaves you 222 deficit. Take small loan.</p>
<p>I didn’t check my numbers but they are roughly ok I think. Does this make sense? Looks like you got it covered.</p>
<p>Ask the financial office for work study allocation for spring. Even if you don’t get it and aren’t first in line for schools jobs, you can arrange something yourself if you find something on campus or even nearby or tutoring in town or whatever you can pick up that is 10 to 15 hours a week.</p>
<p>You don’t get to pick your room as a freshman at UB, and the cheapest rooms are the quads. You can request one, as they are not popular. As Brownparent says, you can knock off a lot of the costs by watching your expenses. Also, you might want to think about looking for a job on weekends now and during the summer and earn some of that gap. If you can get a little bit of a start accumulating some funds, and making that first term’s expenses without the work study, it would be a great start. Talk to your parents about starting to scrimp and putting away some money towards school.</p>
<p>An advantage UB kids have in the way of upperclassman cost control is that there are cheap and plentiful housing near the school and a lot of kids do go off campus for that reason. In fact, most do. Also there are plenty of jobs near campus, so that if you can do schedule your class load and are disciplined about studying, working part time is very possible. </p>
<p>You certainly can apply for an RA job. Some schools do not offer these until students are juniors. And most important…these jobs are very competitive and there is no guarantee of receiving a job. I have never heard of an RA job that offers free board (food). They do offer some kind of compensation for lodging. Some give a free room. Others give a salary/stipend.</p>
<p>You need to check what your college “pays” it’s RSs. </p>
<p>In addition, it is a very time consuming JOB. </p>